The interim director of the Arkansas Community Correction Department told legislators Thursday that parole officers can go to her if there's a problem getting a parole violator off the streets, a move she made after a man who skipped parole violation hearings was charged with murder.

Even though legislation involving tort reform failed to make it out of the General Assembly last month, attorneys are pushing forward with the idea. Sen. Eddie Joe Williams, R-Cabot, who introduced the measure, says business groups supported the legislation and that tort reform is needed because surrounding states have it.

Arkansas lawmakers are weighing competing ballot measures to address rulings that overturned parts of a 2003 tort reform law, including a proposal to give the Legislature the authority to write the rules and practices for the state's courts.

Arkansas legislative leaders on Monday vowed to work across party lines after an election where Republicans won control of the House and Senate for the first time in 138 years, opening a session that will be dominated by questions about the state's Medicaid program.